Throughout the last 13 years, under a Labour government, many of the poor have paid more for their energy. Indeed, over the last five years, the nation's 6 million prepay meter customers – whose average household income is £16,000 – have paid millions of pounds more for their gas and electricity than those from more affluent backgrounds. The big six energy companies have all recently dropped the prepay meter premium, equalising the tariffs paid by prepay customers with those on quarterly bills.

However, this move is only a voluntary one and can be reversed by the firms at the drop of a hat. Scottish and Southern Energy is currently proposing to bring back the unfair prepay tariff in April. Campaigners had hoped that the government would deal with this once and for all by compelling the firms to give equal treatment to prepay customers through its energy bill, which has its report stage today. But these hopes have been dashed.

That's why we are urgently calling on MPs to back a proposed amendment to the bill tabled by John Austin MP, which would compel the equalisation of charging between prepay and quarterly-billed customers. Surely an amended bill that guarantees fairness for energy customers from lower-income backgrounds would be something all MPs would support?

• Every child deserves a fair chance to learn and do well at school yet, as this report shows (Cost of raising a child tops £200,000, 23 February), even a state education can be costly for poor parents. A "free" education can cost hundreds of pounds per child – school meals, uniforms, PE kits, textbooks, school trips and other costs all add up. Children do not leave the problems of social and economic inequality behind at the school gates. Being poor means a pupil is nearly three times as likely to fail to get at least 5 A-C grades at GCSE – and the grade gap with the wealthiest pupils is widening. Reducing poverty and improving child wellbeing must be placed at the heart of the educational agenda.

• A war of words may have broken out between top economists (Report, 19 February). Little reported is what they have in common. Even those arguing for cutting public spending immediately say the process should be "mindful of its impact on society's more vulnerable groups". In a week that has seen inflation spike, unemployment rise and public sector finances deteriorate further, 26 poverty experts from the Get Fair coalition are calling for a rigorous "poverty-impact" review of rescue plans for the economy. It is imperative that we build a consensus to address the structural weaknesses that led to one in five living in poverty during the last decade of ­relative prosperity.